LONG HAUL?
Got to Jackson, MO and our directions told us a truckstop was beside our delivery, was even in one of Ricky's little books, of course we plan for that one, AND... it's closed down. : ( Drove back up the road to a small convenience store with parking and made it our stageing spot, but not till after we found a Pizza Inn and Dairy Queen with parking first to get a bite to eat. : )

Was a long drive back up in a cut out hill to drop those pallets. Wasn't too bad, except for the huge holes that you could have lost a truck in out around the warehouse, then we went to St. Louis to do a Conway run from the terminal to the Nashville terminal, a night driving run : (
then a run that was going to Laredo from Nashville but we didn't have enough hours to run it very far, and just relayed it part of the way out to another truck. We really needed some sleep anyway. Then we deadheaded to Southaven, MS to get loaded and drop that load at the West Memphis terminal.

Got here way early this morning and crashed for a few hours. We were 20 something on the board and it's going down slowly today, so off to a good hot shower and laundry. Now that's done,
we are 12 on the board, so Ricky is napping in case we get sent out on another night run. We did highlight for home when we boarded this morning. So hopefully I'll get home for Friday to go to Grandparents Day with Cody at school. Ricky's coming down with another cold too, he could use a couple of days off, and it's tax time... he's gotta get that done too.

Then when we get back to work, I've set my goal of going to mama's for a visit, by getting a run that way or a highlight. We are gonna get some quality time to learn a new crochet project together. It's been too long since we've had a good long visit with just the two of us. I'll be there before long mama..... I love you!

Kelly girl has started her new job, gotta call and get an update on her today... Tuesday she was liking the people she was working with and that is always a plus. It's gonna be the hour drive into work everyday that's gonna be the worst of it I think, and the parking.

Guess I'll go for now, will update when I find out our destination.

Living Our Dream.....Belinda and Ricky

FEELING AT HOME
Got my hot chocolate and cake : ) we were in Laredo till we were down to 4 on the board....then we were deadheaded to Houston, to wait some more for a dispatch. Got sent to Port Arthur to pick up some oil to run a short run down to Victoria, TX then went empty up to Houston for a load to Ft. Worth, then empty down to Lancaster, TX to get a load going to Joplin and then ran empty to Chetopa, KS for a load of charcoal to go back to Houston, TX.

Can you see why Texas is starting to feel like home? We got to Houston early Sunday afternoon and were very lucky to find a spot at the truckstop. The spots were very few already. We were staged just a couple of miles from our delivery, got up early to miss some thick traffic, and are at the dock waiting to get unloaded now.

The temps are suppose to be around 80 today and cooling to 60s tomorrow. We could go anywhere from here. Will let you know when I know. : )

PS... we ran up on hwy 45 to the pallet place and got a load going to Jackson, MO, it is just out of Cape Girardeau, MO We don't have to be there till Wednesday morning, but will be there Tuesday.

Dreamin Our Dream...Belinda and Ricky

PASS THE SUNSCREEN
Well, we didn't make it to Kentucky, there was ice up from Nashville, so we stopped just west of there for the night. Drove on up to Taylor the next morning, the shoulders were scattered with cars and trucks north of Nashville, there was ice still on the trees and fences. The salt trucks had it in good shape for us till we got to Dayton, OH.. There it started to snow and sleet. It got worse when we got into Michigan. We decided the plow trucks were on strike. Couldn't see a lane, just followed the other traffic real slow hoping they knew where they were going. Got to Taylor safely, really tired, a tense day. Got some pizza ordered in and took showers and off to bed. The load didn't deliver for a day and a half so they took it from us so we wouldn't have to sit on it. We got a dispatch for Kalamazoo the next morning to take to Ft. Smith,AR.

Drove to Joplin on our Valentine's Day, looking forward to seeing the south again. We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for supper. Had an easy ride into AR for delivery the next morning and then went to Tulsa to pick up a load for Laredo. Drove just a short way, our hours were almost out for the day, and there were weather reports of ice in OK. The next morning we saw ice all on the trees and grass as we drove to TX. Drove through hard rain and hail till we got to Waco. Kept looking for them tornadoes.... : ( Didn't see any... : )

We are in Hot Laredo today, in the 70's... stripped the truck out for a good cleaning...did major laundry... bed covers and all. We were #74 when we got on the board...slowly going down...a big plus... they finished the terminal....good new bathrooms, no port a anything....the only real down side I see...they did not enlarge the laundry room. Still bumping into everything.

Well, think we will be here long enough for me to get Hot chocolate and cake at Danny's tonight.. : )
Even if it is 70 something degrees.. : )
Catch you up later....

Living Our Dream....Belinda and Ricky

WHERE'S MY COAT?
We left Salina giving the plows time, we got 6inches of snow over night, the roads weren't too bad, the wind was the problem. Parked at the Flying J right by our delivery for the night. Was a long cold windy walk back and forth to the bathroom. The dogs weren't too happy either. Dropped part of the load the next morning.. the lumper thing is such a rip off. When you bring their product to them, it should be their responsibility to have their employees unload it. Nooo, we have to deal with arranging for lumpers to be paid, and it's way too pricey... $235 not much more than we got for hauling it across country.

Then across Denver to deliver the rest. No lumpers there : ) Just a real tight dock because of cars parked everywhere, took us 45 minutes to get docked. Then off to the Pilot to wait dispatch. Looked like a CFI terminal there were 10 trucks just that I saw, but remember my El Paso thought? Well, we wound up being at the Pilot all night and half of the next day, but... then we got dead headed to .... El Paso. : ) Was a real nice drive, just a long one, we drove all the way. Got there and went straight to bed. Went to breakfast at the Petro and got a load to Memphis, didn't have to set long.

Was a light load and it was a beautiful sunny, warm day. We enjoyed the day and didn't have to worry about parking for the night since we were gonna drive late. Drove to Lancaster (Dallas) to the CFI yard there, got showers and since it was after midnight.... told my Honey, Happy Birthday. : ) and went to sleep. I got to thinking about something neat.... He is now 53, and I will be 53 this year and we will be married 35 years this year... one of those things that makes you go hmmmmmmmm.

We drove to Nick's BarBQue in Carlise, AK just east of Little Rock, for his birthday supper. All the kids, one by one, called to wish their daddy a Happy Birthday. Was a really good meal and a good day. Then drove in to Memphis to do a drop and hook with our load, 12 hours early, and went to the West Memphis yard for the night, and do laundry. The terminals really take a load off when you need a parking spot.

Got up this morning and we got advanced from #10 to come in for a load, because it was going to Canada, and alot of the drivers have opted to not do these loads, we are on our way to the real cold, : ( I guess it's our turn.
Jenn called a little while ago and said they got ice in Springfield, the tree limbs are broke off again and she is out of power, school was canceled and the car is covered in ice. SPRING... we're ready.. : ) It sounded like the kids were having fun though, running around with flashlights. Too bad the fun won't last long.

I think we are about loaded. We are gonna try to get to the Kentucky border for the night and drive on into Taylor, MI Tuesday to get our paperwork for Canada ready, the delivery isn't far into Ontario. Just hope the roads and wind are good.

Catch ya up after we get back... no cell phone or computer untill we get back out, way too expensive across the border.

Living Our Dream...Belinda and Ricky

LOST OUR SOUTHERN LANE
Well, got our reset in the warm El Paso truckstop. Came on up to Coffeeville, had a stop planned from my truckstop book, they are apparently gonna make hwy 169 wider, and half the town is being torn down, including the stop I had planned on. So off to the side of the road at the customer at 5:00pm on Monday to wait till 10:00am Tuesday. We were warned to not try and deliver early, for threat of losing the account. So there we sat, no good signal for phone or computer or t.v. So off to bed, and then a lightening storm and just after I take the dogs out, pouring down rain. Great night.

Got a preplan to go to Pittsburg, KS after we unloaded, just 80 miles away. Drove in heavy rain all the way, did slack up as Ricky dropped and hooked to our loaded trailer. : ) Then we took off for Denver, CO. Stopped in Newton to weight the truck, our load was about 43 thousand lbs. Ricky wanted to make sure the tandems were set right. Decided to stay in Salina, KS for the night since fog and snow and ice decided to move in. Man, the wind is so cold after we have been in the coastal south. Got the fuel filter changed and had a good supper, now for a good nights sleep, gonna get up early for a HOT shower and then a careful drive on into Colorado after the salt and snow trucks have done their jobs. We don't deliver till Thursday morning. Hmmmmm, should we highlight for El Paso?????? Like the temps better there.. : )

Check us out later....
Living Our Dream....Belinda and Ricky

T-SHIRTS TODAY
Finally have some time and a good connection. Sorry so long since a post. Let's see, Ricky was sick and we were in Laredo. Got there on a Monday, was Tuesday before we got low on the board. They called us in to dispatch, (we were thinking.. where will we go this time) well, Ricky was lucky enough to be called in to go to the clinic for a drug screen. : ) We were # 4 on the board... so off we go, and while we are there Ricky decides he will see a doctor...Dr. Ramon Sande-Louro, speaks very little English...oh man... he gives Ricky an antibiotic and cough medicine. So we are hoping it will help. Off to WalMart to fill it, took 2 hrs., anyway, he still has the kidney stone but he is some better, We think he had a bad case of the flu, he is still weak and coughing. He gave me a small case of it. I was better after a week. So we stayed in Laredo for him to get some better, they called us for a load to Canada while we were at the Drs, he was too weak to make that long trip. He got them to take us off the board till Wednesday. His fleet manager got us a load out then so we didn't have to get back on the board with a long wait.

We got a load to Meridian that didn't have to be there till Friday. So we just went 300 miles and shut down for the night. Ricky was wore out and I was running some fever, so we went to bed, both of us woke up at midnight, decided to take a hot shower, hoping to make us feel better. Went back to bed, ( we couldn't leave till 3:00 am), but we did feel better.

The load was a familiar place and we got to stay at our favorite TruckStop (Spaceway) in Meridian. Then we got to go to Mobile, AL to pick up a load to Brownsville, TX. I was liking these southern loads since the winter weather was hitting hard up North.We met an interesting feller at the Love's in Mobile, said he was deported to the US from Belize, he was an American citizen, but lived in Mexico, and was trying to get a ride to the border in Texas and hopfully to Mexico. We helped him with some warmer clothes.. he had on shorts and a thin shirt, and got him a shower and something to eat. Couldn't give him a ride, so we did the best we could do. Wished him luck and told him to e-mail us after he got home. You never know who you might help on the road. The load to Brownsville wasn't to deliver till Monday, so we got to stay by our favorite wing place for the night. Met a Canadian driver named Bill and he ate and spent some time with us. He was a nice feller.

Delivered on Monday morning and then ran over to Mission, TX for a load of potato chips and cheese dip to go to Mexico : ) Took it to El Paso, TX to go over the border. Then we got a load out of there to Calexico, CA
Kenworth truck parts, left there for Loma Linda, CA with a load of hot water heaters, Ricky had to back the trailer in off the street through a fence gate, beside a building (with an overhang),along a fence with limbs sticking out. He did really good. Sure was proud of him. Took 2 boys almost 3 hours to unload 58 heaters, an old woman like me could have done it alot faster. They wouldn't last at O'Reillys.

Soon as they were through, got a dispatch to Carson, CA....which is really... Los Angeles...by Long Beach. We were lucky it was about 1:00pm there so we got over there faster than we thought we would. Was a drop and hook and it was all ready, even though we were a little early. It was3:00 their time when we left, hoped for a easy out too. WRONG, those people must not work till 5:00, took us almost 4 hours to get across LA. I don't see doing that traffic twice a day every day to get to work. Lets live where you make less if we have too and the cost of living is way lower.

We were going back to El Paso with another load going to Mexico. Got here Friday night and went straight to bed, was a long hard day, seemed like the miles didn't pass quick enough. Now we are hooked to a trailer going to Kansas that doesn't have to deliver till Tuesday, so we are sitting to get a reset. We needed our log fresh for the week.

Heard from my Kelly girl yesterday, am so proud of her, she got a job at Chase, where she will be using her degree finally, and not working so hard. Restaurant work is alot of hard work. Our Jason works for Chase in MO and he just got a good review with a bonus, I'm so proud of him too. Holly is going to school to be a EMT with the fire department in Indiana. She is really excited about it all. I'm proud of her too. Our Daniel just got a good review too at his job in Texas, I'm so proud of all my kids, they have grown up to be very consciencious about there jobs, making for good employees. They are chips off the old blocks. : )

Well got laundry done, think I will go in the Truckstop and watch a movie. They have a nice little theater in there.
I've got you all caught up now. : )

Living Our Dream.... Belinda and Ricky